Cleared of Palace sword attack, now he’s jailed for life

A TERRORIST acquitted of launching a sword attack at Buckingham Palace has been jailed for life for targeting major London tourist attractions.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury planned gun and knife attacks at Madame Tussauds, the Pride parade and an open-top sightseeing bus last year.

The 29-year-old former Uber driver from Luton, who was said to be driven by ‘dreams of martyrdom’, was arrested three days before the Pride event last summer after he unknowingly revealed his plans to undercover police officers.

Chowdhury bragged to them about deceiving an Old Bailey jury in December 2018, when he was cleared of slashing police with a sword outside Buckingham Palace while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.

But a jury at a separate trial found him guilty of terror offences in February this year.

At Woolwich crown court, Chowdhury was yesterday sentenced to a minimum of 25 years behind bars for engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, collecting information likely to be useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.

The court heard four undercover officers, posing as likeminded extremists, befriended and monitored Chowdhury after he was freed from HMP Belmarsh in 2018. Within a week of his release he began posting extremist messages and over five months detectives gained his trust and heard his plans.

Chowdhury’s subsequent trial heard

Sickening: Chowdhury drew pictures of policeman being killed and 9/11 attacks

real gun. He was said to have a document on his phone titled ‘guidance for doing just terror operations’, with instructions on how to kill people with knives.

While in jail on remand, Chowdhury also drew pictures depicting a police officer being murdered outside No.10 and the 9/11 attacks.

Yesterday, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Chowdhury posed a ‘significant risk to the public’ of causing ‘serious harm’ and there had been a risk of ‘an imminent attack’ intended to involve ‘multiple deaths’.

But defence lawyer Simon Csoka QC argued that the university drop-out was a ‘pathetic little man’ who ‘talks and talks, but doesn’t do’.

Judge Andrew Lees said Chowdhury showed ‘devotion to the cause of violent Islamic extremism’. He added: ‘Your conversations with the undercover officers was focused, fanatical and an exposition of your support for violent jihad. I’m satisfied you planned to commit attacks of terrorism imminently.’

Chowdhury’s sister, Sneha, 26, who was convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism, will be sentenced later.

ARMED police stormed a property with a chainsaw as four men were arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack. Footage showed officers with guns bursting into a house before a man is dragged out and handcuffed in the Goodmayes area of north-east London. He was led away by two officers wearing armoured vests, while another is seen watching the house through the scope of what appears to be a mounted sniper. Two suspects were arrested at a nearby property and another in Leicestershire. The suspects were said to be aged between 17 and 32. All four were arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terror. Sources said the raids followed a suspected Islamist plot.

‘Significant risk’: Chowdhury was said to be planning attack